(Activision; Xbox 360, PlayStation2)
GAMER The latest incarnation of the greatest skateboard video game series ever is here, and it's a mixed bag. Wait, have any skateboard video games besides this one made it past part one? Anyway, the Xbox 360 version will both please and infuriate fans of the series, just like life. Players who are new to the game will be better off picking up an old copy of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 or 4, because that's when this franchise peaked.
One of the major differences between the early Tony Hawk games and the newer ones is that there's an involved story now. Read more »

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ONLINE TV Contrary to what you might mistake as your better judgment, the soft-rock world of the late 1970s and early ’80s produced some top-notch sounds. Read more »

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FILM FESTIVAL After a week of stealth watching at the Vancouver International Film Festival, you wonder about odd things. Such as: what's with the trend of naming movies after post-punk touchstones? Jia Zhangke probably started it with 2002's Unknown Pleasures. In its wake came All Tomorrow's Parties by Jia's cinematographer Yu Lik-wai and the Smiths-inflected twist of Lee Yoon-Ki's terrific This Charming Girl. Read more »

HALLOWEEN BEAUTY The Oakland salon and boutique Down at Lulus is copowered by members of Gravy Train!!! and the Bobbyteens. Seth Bogart of the former and Tina Lucchesi of the latter got together with me recently to first discuss the greatness of Davines hair care products from Italy ("If you have dry hair, they will blow your mind," Lucchesi says), then get down to ghost boobs, hot sweet and sticky treats, and other things Halloween-y.
SFBG What are your best or worst Halloween experiences?
TINA LUCCHESI None are very memorable because I'm always pretty wasted. Read more »

CULT ICON Over a decade ago a pair of first-time filmmakers approached Crispin Glover to ask if he would act in their movie.
Glover signed on — but to direct, with the condition that most of the roles be filled by actors with Down syndrome. Best known for eccentric fringe roles in films such as River's Edge, Bartleby, Back to the Future, and Rubin and Ed, Glover had written other screenplays involving people with the condition and had kept it in his mind's eye for some time. Read more »

CULT MOVIE Movie history is full of figures who could do no wrong one minute, then blew it — never trusted to do right again — the next. This year alone something like this happened to the richly deserving M. Read more »

FESTIVAL Anyone who assumes the San Francisco Film Society hibernates between springtime fests is sorely mistaken. Aside from all the preparations for next year's landmark 50th SF International Film Festival, much year-round activity has been emanating from the organization's Presidio headquarters, including a recent outdoor screening of giant-ant classic Them! Next up: the first San Francisco International Animation Showcase, three days of films at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Clear your Oct. Read more »

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COMEDY DVD/CD When comedian Neil Hamburger appeared in the mid-’90s, he didn't exactly burst onto the scene. He floundered, groaned, and groveled his way through jokes that have often been deemed intentionally bad. "It's so bad it's good!" went the typical assessment of the comedian's act — an assessment that's not only insensitive but also a bit simplistic. Read more »

PRESS PLAY I've reached the point in my sick, sad life where I get urgently flagged e-mails from friends that read like this: "Dude: E! True Hollywood Story: Texas Chainsaw Massacre airs this weekend!" And then I actually write this kind of information down on the nearest calendar. So you can imagine what a chore it was to take a look at Dark Sky Films' brand-new, two-disc "ultimate edition" DVD treatment. Read more »

A lot of the promo CDs that cross the river Styx and wind up at the fiery gates of the Guardian don't even have cover art. However, a good portion do have art, and a good portion of these have very bad art. Read more »